the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Almond Tree
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
or (Jeremiah 1:11-12; Hebrew "I see a rod of the wakeful tree (the emblem of wakefulness) ... Thou hast well seen: for I will be wakeful (Hebrew for "hasten") as to My word.") It first wakes out of the wintry sleep and buds in January. In Ecclesiastes 12:5, instead of "the almond tree shall flourish," Gesenius translates "(the old man) loathes (through want of appetite) even the (sweet) almond;" for the blossom is pink, not white, the color of the old man's hair.
But as the Hebrew means "bud" or "blossom" in Song of Solomon 6:11 it probably means here "the wakefulness of old age sets in." Or the color may not be the point, but the blossoms on the leafless branch, as the hoary locks flourish as a crown on the now arid body. Exodus 25:33-34; in the tabernacle the candlesticks had "bowls made in the form of the almond flower" or "nut," most graceful in shape; perhaps the pointed nut within was the design for the cup, the sarcocarp containing the oil, and the flame shaped nut of gold emitting the light from its apex. Luz, the original name of Bethel, was derived from one species of almond (Genesis 28:19; Genesis 30:37), luz.
It was almond, not hazel, rods wherewith Jacob secured the ringstraked and speckled offspring from the flocks. Jordan almonds were famed. The almonds growing on Aaron's rod, when laid up over night before the Lord, denote the ever wakeful priesthood which should continue until the Antitype should come; type also of the vigilance and fruitfulness which Christ's ministers should exhibit;. also of the rod of Christ's strength which shall finally destroy every adversary (Numbers 17:8; Psalms 110:2; Psalms 110:5-6).
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Fausset, Andrew R. Entry for 'Almond Tree'. Fausset's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/fbd/a/almond-tree.html. 1949.
